Thank you so much for writing about one of the great ones. As a lifetime Cardinals fan I have always appreciated great defense. I will always remember his play in the1970 World Series.
As a child, I went on a letter-writing, autograph-procurement spree, sending requests to as many of my favorite athletes as I could find addresses for. Brooks was one of the first to respond. R.I.P.
Naturally. Frank Robinson once said that going anywhere with Brooks took five times as long as going there with anyone else, because Brooks would stop to talk to everyone who approached.
I immediately thought of you when I heard about this. Being a New Yorker who hated the Yankees, the Orioles along with the Red Sox were favorite teams to cheer on. Brooks Robinson was a favorite of mine since I frequently played 3rd base. As an aside, do you remember Bill O'Donnell, he was a distant cousin of mine.
Sure, of course. He and Chuck Thompson were the tandem of announcers who covered the Orioles from the beginning of the Frank Robinson era to the conclusion of the Brooks Robinson era; how could I forget him?
We are borne back ceaselessly into the past with sad news of this sort, and I confess that, as a New Yorker and Mets fan in my youth, the ‘69 World Series was my baseball high point. Brooks going 1 for 19 at bat lends insight into the series as a whole, showing that good pitching defeats good hitting. That said, as a Little League third baseman in those years, I felt the position was literally defined by Brooks as the ultimate guardian of the hot corner.
An excusably impressionistic view, but the average ERA of Orioles starters for the season was 3.012. 2.88 for the Mets. 2.72 versus 1.80 overall for the series itself, which factors in the universally acknowledged Miracle element to which you rightly call attention — and far be it from this LITW reader to gainsay the claim of truly divine providence.
Differences in ERAs between two leagues without interleague play? Yes, the Mets had a statistically great year in 1969, and then reverted the next year. In the first year of divisional play, they were blessed to be in a weaker division than the Orioles. But, apart from TS, none of the Mets starters could have cracked the Orioles’ rotation. I know the Orioles returned to the WS the next two years, so Baltimore fans really shouldn’t remember 1969 so bitterly. But to be on the losing side of the two most egregious upsets in the history of American sport to two teams from NY with rhyming names—it lingers.
My condolences for the passing of your childhood hero, Dr. Hart. In our days the combination of sport greatness and kindness is a somewhat rare occurrence. (Perhaps it was always that way after the end of amateur era.)
On a side note, as a European fan of association football I can't get used to the term "franchise" so often employed in American sports. "Club" has a much nobler ring to it. Of course, I realise that the different terms reflect distinct legal histories and relations with the respective sport associations, but still “franchise” simply reeks of capitalism:).
In the nineteenth century, when the terminology of the sport was taking shape, it simply implied a freehold in association with other freeholds, voluntarily governed by a covenant of practices. Only today does it mean a semi-independent business licensed by a corporation. In baseball also, unlike sports that developed later, the chief tactician and field-commander is a "manager" rather than a "coach."
Thank you for the clarification. This is very interesting. To be honest, since I wasn't following any American sports in my youth (at least not in English), the first time I heard the term "franchise" was in law school where it was defined as "the totality of industrial or intellectual property rights relating to trade marks, trade names, logotypes, utility models, designs, copyright, know-how or patents, granted in return for a royalty, to be used for sale of goods and/or provision of services" (basically your second definition but in legalese). You can imagine why I have strong prejudice against the use of this term in sports:).
As regards the name of the head of a sporting team, I can speak with some knowledge only about association football where in most countries it is indeed called "coach" with the exception of England and other British nations where he is referred to as "manager". I guess the reason is that the English model used to give the head coach almost unlimited power, including in respect of transfers (within an approved budget, of course). Although the era of all-powerful managers (such as Alex Ferguson) is at the end even in England, where they are now reduced to the role of head coaches working together (or under) a sporting director.
Sparky Anderson, one of my favorite baseball managers - the first to win the World Series in both leagues - said about Brooks Robinson, "He can throw his glove out there and it will start ten double plays by itself." !
Amen! Best hands ever at the hot corner. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Godspeed Brooks!
Thank you so much for writing about one of the great ones. As a lifetime Cardinals fan I have always appreciated great defense. I will always remember his play in the1970 World Series.
As a child, I went on a letter-writing, autograph-procurement spree, sending requests to as many of my favorite athletes as I could find addresses for. Brooks was one of the first to respond. R.I.P.
Naturally. Frank Robinson once said that going anywhere with Brooks took five times as long as going there with anyone else, because Brooks would stop to talk to everyone who approached.
sorry to hear of thire passing, thanks for sharing a little of thire life.
Oh thank God I thought you were referring to yourself and this was a commemorative post.
RIP to your childhood hero btw.
Thank you for this.
I immediately thought of you when I heard about this. Being a New Yorker who hated the Yankees, the Orioles along with the Red Sox were favorite teams to cheer on. Brooks Robinson was a favorite of mine since I frequently played 3rd base. As an aside, do you remember Bill O'Donnell, he was a distant cousin of mine.
Sure, of course. He and Chuck Thompson were the tandem of announcers who covered the Orioles from the beginning of the Frank Robinson era to the conclusion of the Brooks Robinson era; how could I forget him?
We are borne back ceaselessly into the past with sad news of this sort, and I confess that, as a New Yorker and Mets fan in my youth, the ‘69 World Series was my baseball high point. Brooks going 1 for 19 at bat lends insight into the series as a whole, showing that good pitching defeats good hitting. That said, as a Little League third baseman in those years, I felt the position was literally defined by Brooks as the ultimate guardian of the hot corner.
Of course, the Orioles had even better pitching than the Mets. So sometimes good luck defeats good pitching.
An excusably impressionistic view, but the average ERA of Orioles starters for the season was 3.012. 2.88 for the Mets. 2.72 versus 1.80 overall for the series itself, which factors in the universally acknowledged Miracle element to which you rightly call attention — and far be it from this LITW reader to gainsay the claim of truly divine providence.
Differences in ERAs between two leagues without interleague play? Yes, the Mets had a statistically great year in 1969, and then reverted the next year. In the first year of divisional play, they were blessed to be in a weaker division than the Orioles. But, apart from TS, none of the Mets starters could have cracked the Orioles’ rotation. I know the Orioles returned to the WS the next two years, so Baltimore fans really shouldn’t remember 1969 so bitterly. But to be on the losing side of the two most egregious upsets in the history of American sport to two teams from NY with rhyming names—it lingers.
My condolences for the passing of your childhood hero, Dr. Hart. In our days the combination of sport greatness and kindness is a somewhat rare occurrence. (Perhaps it was always that way after the end of amateur era.)
On a side note, as a European fan of association football I can't get used to the term "franchise" so often employed in American sports. "Club" has a much nobler ring to it. Of course, I realise that the different terms reflect distinct legal histories and relations with the respective sport associations, but still “franchise” simply reeks of capitalism:).
In the nineteenth century, when the terminology of the sport was taking shape, it simply implied a freehold in association with other freeholds, voluntarily governed by a covenant of practices. Only today does it mean a semi-independent business licensed by a corporation. In baseball also, unlike sports that developed later, the chief tactician and field-commander is a "manager" rather than a "coach."
Thank you for the clarification. This is very interesting. To be honest, since I wasn't following any American sports in my youth (at least not in English), the first time I heard the term "franchise" was in law school where it was defined as "the totality of industrial or intellectual property rights relating to trade marks, trade names, logotypes, utility models, designs, copyright, know-how or patents, granted in return for a royalty, to be used for sale of goods and/or provision of services" (basically your second definition but in legalese). You can imagine why I have strong prejudice against the use of this term in sports:).
As regards the name of the head of a sporting team, I can speak with some knowledge only about association football where in most countries it is indeed called "coach" with the exception of England and other British nations where he is referred to as "manager". I guess the reason is that the English model used to give the head coach almost unlimited power, including in respect of transfers (within an approved budget, of course). Although the era of all-powerful managers (such as Alex Ferguson) is at the end even in England, where they are now reduced to the role of head coaches working together (or under) a sporting director.
Sparky Anderson, one of my favorite baseball managers - the first to win the World Series in both leagues - said about Brooks Robinson, "He can throw his glove out there and it will start ten double plays by itself." !
I remember watching the 1970 World Series, at age 10, from NY, and Brooks being a hero.